enslave

verb

en·​slave in-ˈslāv 

en-

enslaved; enslaving; enslaves

transitive verb

: to force into or as if into slavery : subjugate

The building holds bronze statues of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, who were born, and enslaved, on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

—Evan Osnos

It has long been known that Nordic warriors established outposts more than a millennium ago on Poland's Baltic coast, enslaving indigenous Slavic peoples to supply a booming slave trade, as well trading in salt, amber and other commodities.

—Andrew Higgins

This oddly contradictory view of artificial intelligence is somehow a perfect symbol of AI's place in our imaginations at this moment in history—something that will eliminate countless jobs, a boost for creativity, an end to drudgery, or perhaps a monstrous force that will take over our planet and enslave humanity.

—Minda Zetlin

enslavement

in-ˈslāv-mənt 

en-

noun

… the continued enslavement of millions of human beings after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

—Juan Cole

sexual/economic enslavement

enslaver noun

plural enslavers

British goods were shipped to Africa to be exchanged for enslaved captives, who were sold to enslavers in British colonies …

—Matthew Stallard and Aamna Mohdin

Examples of enslave in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And as the exhibition and her photographic journey comes to a close, Faustine wears a white dress and a straw hat, posing with her back facing the audience, in images taken at Shelter Island — where a plantation enslaved Africans and Native Americans from 1651 until 1820 — and Staten Island. —Briana Ellis-Gibbs, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024

Their script centered on Neo, a computer hacker who learns that humans have been enslaved in a simulation engineered by artificially intelligent machines. —Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Mar. 2024

It was originally designed to reduce the suffering and improve the material conditions of people whose ancestors had been enslaved in this country. —Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024

Arab militias took and enslaved his brother, but the family was eventually able to find and ransom him also, Hamed said. —Hafiz Haroun, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024

Thornton and Lucie Blackburn were a married couple, but they were enslaved in two separate households. —Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 9 Feb. 2024

Founded to educate people who had been enslaved, Howard’s mission has been to serve Black Americans who had for generations been systematically excluded from American higher education. —Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024

Durkin, a scholar of slavery and the African diaspora, traces them to communities in Alabama established by the formerly enslaved, such as Africatown and Gee’s Bend, and finds in their stories antecedents for the Harlem Renaissance and the civil-rights movement. —The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024

During the 1890s in Montana, formerly enslaved Mary Fields, more widely known by her nickname Stagecoach Mary, was the first Black woman to carry mail. —Essence, 1 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

enslave

verb

en·​slave in-ˈslāv 

: to make a slave of

enslavement

-mənt 

noun

enslaver noun